Intellectual foundation of Republican push for austerity falls apart

Economic policy wonks are buzzing today over revelations that a celebrated study conducted by a couple of Harvard University academics was fundamentally flawed.

Steve Benen has the story HERE:

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff published a report a few years ago that was music to the ears of Republicans: when a nation’s debt climbs above 90% of the nation’s total economy, it necessarily serves as a drag on economic growth. The Reinhardt/Rogoff study became the intellectual foundation for austerity and a deliberate shift from job creation to debt reduction.

The problem, we now know, is that Reinhart and Rogoff ...

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Pat Cunningham

Economic policy wonks are buzzing today over revelations that a celebrated study conducted by a couple of Harvard University academics was fundamentally flawed.

Steve Benen has the story HERE:

Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff published a report a few years ago that was music to the ears of Republicans: when a nation’s debt climbs above 90% of the nation’s total economy, it necessarily serves as a drag on economic growth. The Reinhardt/Rogoff study became the intellectual foundation for austerity and a deliberate shift from job creation to debt reduction.